Samsung’s Future Bendable Display Will be Called YOUM

YOUM is definitely a weird name to be used in the mobile industry but that’s what Samsung will use to call their next generation AMOLED displays. Unlike previous AMOLED displays, which use glass layer, YOUM will be covered by flexible film. The advantages are numerous, but two of them stand out easily; flexibility and durability, in fact Samsung makes a pretty wild claim that YOUM displays are unbreakable.

But the greatest feature would be flexibility, YOUM displays can bend, which means we might start seeing really interesting smartphone designs, instead of the somewhat dated black slab. Also, instead of six layers used on standard LCD display, YOUM only uses four layers; TFT (film), organic layer, encap (film) and polarizer. By replacing the glass layer with thin, flexible plastic substrate, it’s possible for Samsung to create a bendable display.

But when will we be able to get the flexible displays from the shelves? Samsung announced that YOUM will be out somewhere this year and now, there are less than 9 months left in it. Although we won’t be crying our eyes out when Samsung’s flexible smartphones slip to 2013, we do need to know what to expect.

Additionally, how are current mobile platforms, such as Android, supposed to respond to flexible display? There are some issues that need to be figured out, for example, Samsung needs to work on the pixel density. Apple often says that the magic threshold for great display is 300 ppi (pixels per inch) and some users may choose a crisp, smooth display than something that can bend.